Russian Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin on Wednesday pledged to slash the number of official cars using flashing blue lights - allowing them to ignore traffic rules - before his inauguration in May.
“We will reduce them without fail. We will probably do that before the inauguration,” he said.
The flashing blue lights, known in Russia as "migalki," are a symbol of the privileges afforded to Russian bureaucrats who use the lights to speed around Moscow's ubiquitous traffic jams, which regular drivers spend hours sitting in.
“High level officials should be able to get to work quickly but without any flashing lights or quacking noises,” he said.
Putin offered no indication as to the scale of the reduction, as around 1,000 cars in Moscow are equipped with flashing blue lights, including cars used by governors and lawmakers.
He earlier vowed to cut the number of officials entitled to traffic privileges to "a few dozen."
The abuse of blue lights poses a serious threat to road safety. There have been several high-profile road accidents involving VIP vehicles in Russia in recent years.
